1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bicycle lighting apparatus and methods of use thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved bicycle lighting system comprising an array of lights that can be used to increase the visibility of a cyclist, supplementing or replacing conventional bicycle lights.
2. State of the Art
Cycling has seen a marked increase in popularity in recent history. Bicycles can have numerous benefits compared to motor vehicles including exercise, reduced air and/or noise pollution, reduced traffic congestion, and can even reduce travel time in areas that are densely populated. However, it is often perceived that cycling can be dangerous and that there is high risk of serious injury in the event of a crash, especially one involving a motor vehicle.
Furthermore, as the popularity of recreational cycling has risen so has the length of a typical bicycle excursion or trip. Increasingly, bicycle trips are made at early morning or late evening hours and for extended distances, to the extent that riders are now frequently encountered on public roads at dawn or dusk, or even during the night. Because a large percentage of collisions between motor and pedal vehicles occur at night or other low light situations, providing a good light source for safety purposes has assumed considerable importance in the bicycle industry. In many jurisdictions it has become a legal requirement to have proper lighting when bicycling during times of low visibility, such as when it is dark. Additionally, automobile/bicycle accidents are also very common during the day because the driver of the automobile does not notice the cyclist.
When riding at night a cyclist must consider at least two things: being able to see the road in order to safely navigate his or her bicycle, and whether he or she is visible to motor vehicles driving on the same road, or approaching the road. On dark streets a cyclist must be able to see the road. How far ahead the cyclist needs to see depends on how fast the cyclist is riding, generally, the faster a cycler is traveling the more powerful the light should be. Most commonly, a cyclist uses a headlamp or lights crudely mounted to the frame of the bicycle to illuminate a travel path for the bicycle.
Maybe more importantly is the visibility of a cyclist to drivers of motor vehicles. There has been recognition that the more visible the cyclist is to motor vehicles, the safer the cyclist is and that there is less likelihood that the motor vehicle will collide with the cyclist. To this end, a large number of devices have been developed to assist in enhancing the visibility of the cyclist including fluorescent shirts, blinking lights secured to back-packs, headlamps and tail lamps, and even flags. On darker roads these devices may create enough contrast with the background landscape to usually make the cyclist visible to a driver of a motor vehicle. However, when riding at dawn, dusk, at night, or on roads with intermittent ambient light, these devices may not be adequate to make the cyclist visible.
Conventionally, cyclists riding at night have used a white light mounted so as to provide light at the front of a bicycle and a red light directed rearward of the bicycle in order to both illuminate the travel path and be visible to other road users. Although using this lighting system can be effective, there is still a significant need to increase the visibility of cyclist riding at night. For example the light forward and the light facing rearward provide little to no indication to a motor vehicle the intentions of the cyclist regarding changing lanes or turning. Likewise, such lights have little visibility from the side. While the cyclist may stick out his or her arm, the arm may not be visible as the lights do not usually illuminate the cyclist. Thus, a cyclist changing lanes or turning is at a significant risk of being hit by a motor vehicle driven by someone who does not understand the cyclist's intent. Likewise, a cyclist may be hit by a motor vehicle coming at a generally perpendicular angle because the driver of the motor vehicle simply did not see or notice the lights.
Thus, there is a need for an improved bicycle lighting apparatus that uses an array of lights to increase the safety of cycling on public roads. It is desirable that such bicycle lighting apparatus can easily be mounted to existing bicycles at various locations to provide for increased visibility of cyclists from the front, the back and the side.